MOA SEED FARM.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19349, 9 December 1924, Page 2

MOA SEED FARM.

VISIT BY HON. A. D. M'LEOD PROGRESS OF OPERATIONS. One of the most interesting visits made by the Hon. A. D. M’Leod (Minister ol Lands) in the course of his tour of Central Otago was that to the Moa seed farm, situated a few miles from Roxburgh, last week. The farm was established about 1918 'by the Otago Repatriation Board with the object of providing work for wounded soldiers who wished to acquire a, knowledge of this important 'branch of industry. Eater on the Moa Seed Farm Association came into existence, and it started operations in April, 1922. The operations on the farm are controlled b- Messrs E. F. Duthie, Jns. Begg, and J. H. Nimmo, and the management is in the hands of Mr Hatfield. All of these gentlemen cxccept Mr Nimmo met the Ministerial party when the latter arrived at the farm, and the visitors w'ero shown over the place, the main features of the work being explained to them. The property comprises about 410 acres together—there being some 220 acres in the Westcotfc farm and about 190 acres in Cherry farm. Mr M’Leod and the officials of the Lands Department who were with him—Mr J. B. Thompson (Under-Secretary for Lands), Mr J. D. Ritchie (Land Purchase Officer), and Mr R. S. Galbraith (Commissioner of Crown Lands in Otago)—went over a good deal of the ground, . taking careful notice of the main features in connection with the scheme.

A great deal of careful and painstaking work has been undertaken in the course of the few years that have elapsed since operations wero commenced, and sufficient progress has been made to demonstrate clearly that pure seed with a very high percentage of germination can 'be raised in the dominion, and that if the industry is developed on the lines that have been followed up to the present the time will probably come when imported seeds will be displaced to a considerable extent at least by the products grown in New Zealand. Up to the present the quality of the seed has been entirely satisfactory, and no trouble has been experienced in disposing of the output. The only drawback is the cost of production, this being principally duo to the high price paid for labour. Seeds of the following varieties are now being raised, and in almost every case the result promises to be highly satisfactory:— Mangolds, carrots, beetroot, onions, parsnips, potatoes, sweet peas, clovers, lucerne, and various grasses. The parsnip seed, three tons of which were raised last year, is said to be equal in quality to the best, in the world. Efforts have been made to produce lettuce seed, hut up to the present the experiments have not been a success from a commercial point of view, although some very fine samples have been raised. Experiments with lettuce and radish are still being undertaken. It is doubtful whether the 5 experiments in connection with onion seed will be crowned with success. The quality of th© seed leaves nothing to be desired, but the difficulty is to compete with Australian seed in the matter of price.. Breeding from some hundreds of seedling potatoes of all kinds is also in progress, and in due course some of the varieties will probably be put on the market.